Bad Romance: The Dysfunctional Mafiosi Cover
by Imadra Blue
Summary: Squalo's dysfunctional relationship with Xanxus, dissected and dismembered through his memory. Slash.


**Pairing:** Xanxus/Squalo (XS)  
**Warnings:** Dubious consent, violence, sex  
**Disclaimer:** _Katekyō Hitman Reborn!_ and all its characters are property of Amano Akira. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**Written For**: KHR Fest (LJ Comm). Prompt: _I - 33. Xanxus/Squalo - fight-sex; "You always look best with blood on your mouth."_  
**Notes:** Many thanks to Wille_Zur_Musik for a great beta reading. The title is a nod to Lady Gaga's song of the same name, which is an appropriate theme song for this story. However, this is not a songfic. Concrit is always appreciated on any of my fics.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Superbi cannot recall all the details of his first meeting with Xanxus, but he can recall the red of Xanxus's eyes, and the red of Superbi's own blood dripping from Xanxus's fist. Xanxus licked it off, and a drop spilled onto his bottom lip, that much remains clear.

Xanxus may have told him he was pretty and then pulled him back up, but Superbi cannot be sure. He may have stood up on his own. What he does recall was how Xanxus's red eyes grew heavy-lidded with lust when he ran his bloody fingers over Superbi's mouth. Superbi's memory fails him after that. He does not know if they fucked that first night or not. It had to have been soon after they met; Superbi does not remember many nights passing without Xanxus wrestling him onto the mattress.

When it came to Xanxus, Superbi learned early on that he would never truly be the predator. He could only be prey.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Only once did Xanxus ever ask Superbi about his past. Superbi cannot remember why Xanxus threw a bottle of bourbon at his head before that, but he does recall turning around and trying to punch him.

"Why do they call you a shark?" Xanxus asked after catching Superbi's throat with one hand. With the other, he took a sip from the glass he poured before tossing the bottle. His red gaze remained fixed on Superbi. Under the weak light, the liquor shone a deep red on his lips.

Superbi could not answer. He could only choke and gasp for air, clawing at Xanxus's hand, wishing he had brought his sword. He thought of the priest who stalked through the boys' dormitory every night, his voice high and shrill as he sought victims for his sharp cane. The priest screeched louder than any of the boys when Superbi bit him for his transgressions. His gnarled fingers broke easily between Superbi's teeth. _Squalo_, the priest called him, clutching his bloody hand. He named Superbi after a shark that bit and tore at flesh, then condemned him to hell.

Superbi never did answer Xanxus's question. Instead, he passed out for want of air.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Superbi's first real mission under Xanxus was a day of professional success and personal failure--two sentiments that seemed to define his life. After storming the stronghold of the Gallo family, they wiped out the Don and his best men with little effort. Xanxus laughed when Superbi turned to him. The dead and the dying lay supine around them; the room stunk of blood and smoke.

Superbi grinned back at his new boss. His sword felt heavy with gore. Half the victims had been his. Even Xanxus would appreciate his handiwork, perhaps reward him for it.

The grin that Xanxus wore as he approached Superbi was sharp as broken glass. Superbi felt it slice through his heart even before Xanxus pushed him against a wall. Xanxus tore open Superbi's coat and started unbuckling Superbi's belt. He felt warm and hard against Superbi.

"Now?" Superbi cried, horrified as he stared down at the bloody, headless torso near his feet.

"Especially now," Xanxus breathed, and yanked Superbi's pants to his knees.

Superbi slammed his right fist into Xanxus's face. "Fuck you! Not here!"

Xanxus looked surprised as blood trickled down his split lip. Growling, he clubbed Superbi over the head with the butt of his gun. Superbi tried to twist away, but his downed pants tripped him. He slipped into the surrounding gore, splattering himself and the walls with blood. Since he had bit the fingers off the priest with the cane, he had never found blood repellant, but there, kneeling in the remains of their victims with his pants down, he felt as dirty and disgusting as the priest accused him of being.

The sound of a gunshot rang through the air. Within a half-second, a screeching snap accompanied the loss of Superbi's sword hand. Though there was no pain, the severed mechanical joint sparked and whined. Superbi had little time to think about how much it would cost to have that replaced again before Xanxus grabbed him by his hair, pulled him up, and shoved him face first against the wall.

Superbi struggled, unable to shake the fear of the blood around , but Xanxus held him tight and pushed into him without ceremony. It burned more than usual. Superbi yelped, jerking at the violation, but it only made Xanxus moan.

"Don't you like it, shark?" Xanxus whispered, and thrust deep into Superbi. "You always liked it before."

"Blood," Superbi gasped, ignoring the growing heat in his abdomen as Xanxus hit his sweet spot. "If you've infected me, I'll fucking--"

Xanxus dangled a small bottle of oil before Superbi's face and thrust again. "Blood's shit for lubricant. I used what I always use." He laughed then, until Superbi rammed his head backwards into Xanxus's face. He felt something break.

"_Porca vacca_!" Xanxus screamed, and backed off. Blood ran down his face, over his mouth, pouring from his nose.

Superbi pulled his pants up and turned around. "If you want to fuck me, do it in a bedroom." He walked out then, collecting a few shreds of his dignity. If he had found enough, perhaps he would not have shown up to Xanxus's bedroom that night, a bottle of bourbon in the hand that should have bore a sword.

Unfortunately, Xanxus had obliterated most of his dignity shortly after meeting him.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Even after the debacle in the Gallo stronghold, Superbi could not stop wanting Xanxus. He wanted the unrelenting power, the unpolished beauty, the uninhibited fury. He enjoyed the way Xanxus's hands bruised his flesh, the way the sex left him raw. Only one man turned him into prey, and he craved the reversal of his usual position in life. In Xanxus's bed, the pressure to hunt and kill lifted, and Superbi only had to relax and take whatever Xanxus gave him.

On the night before they stormed the Ninth's mansion, Superbi strained at his handcuffs, wrists already bruised from his efforts, though not so violently bruised as the flesh that Xanxus manhandled. Fingers dug into his hips like pincers, and Xanxus's buried himself so violently inside of him that Superbi shuddered with every thrust. By now, the pain meant pleasure. Superbi moaned, torn between urging Xanxus to finish it and demanding that Xanxus deny him more.

Xanxus came with two more thrusts, groaning like beast. For the first time that Superbi can recall, he bent down without prompting and took Superbi into his mouth. Superbi's eyes fluttered as his lower body ached with pleasure and he thrust up once, until he felt Xanxus's teeth. He fell back, and Xanxus soon rewarded him by sucking hard, building an unbearable pressure in Superbi's groin. He came in a fierce wash of pleasure that left him panting and sagging against his restraints.

The look on Xanxus's face as he sat up to study Superbi seemed odd that night. He stroked Superbi's face, his smile soft as crushed velvet. "You're so beautiful," he whispered, and leaned forward to kiss him.

But Superbi could not resist darting in at the sign of weakness. He was, after all, a bloodthirsty predator. He bit Xanxus's lips. Xanxus cried out and pulled away, his lips crimson from Superbi's sharp teeth. Superbi could taste the copper tang of blood and rolled the flavor in his mouth.

Xanxus roared and slammed his fist into Superbi's stomach. "You little shit!"

His stomach burst with pain, and Superbi gasped for air. Xanxus stormed out, leaving him handcuffed to the bed. In the morning, Lussuria freed him, clucking his tongue. He managed to block Superbi's punch with his metal knee and fled the room before Superbi found his sword.

After Superbi showered and headed downstairs to join the group, Xanxus refused to look at him. When they began the attack on the Ninth's mansion, Xanxus stood silent and apart from Superbi. They fought as two, rather than one, even when they fought back-to-back.

Superbi always wondered if that separation led to their defeat.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Superbi does not remember a time when he did not feel guilty for biting Xanxus's lips instead of kissing him. He does remember how cold the ice felt beneath his fingertips before the Ninth's Rain Guardian yanked him away. Inside his frozen prison, Xanxus's expression remained one of rage. He spent the next eight years locked in the emotion he knew best, his lips stained with his own blood.

The Ninth's Rain Guardian dragged Superbi up the stairs, towards the realization that he could not save the only person who had ever mattered to him.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Superbi will never forget how long eight years felt. They stretched into eons, leaving Superbi alone and unfulfilled. He found other men, but none hit him hard enough. When they handcuffed him, they seemed to regret the bruises they left. When they first pushed into him at his urging, and he groaned, they mistook his pain for what it was, rather than what he enjoyed it as. None of them were strong enough to hurt him, to control him, to challenge him.

No one burned hot enough, made him feel enough, left him feeling like trembling prey. They were all too forgettable. None made him work for his victories. Soon, Superbi gave up and spent his nights alone. His hair grew longer and longer, with no one to yank on it and drag him across the floor.

Whenever Superbi tasted blood in his mouth, he regretted that it was not Xanxus's.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

On the night of Xanxus's return, the Ninth's men brought him into the Varia's villa, steaming and dripping water. He looked both older and younger than Superbi remembered, and strange scars wound their way over his skin. The blood on his lips from his fight with the Ninth remained, but his red eyes burned with a new fire that promised to burn them all alive.

Superbi moved to help him up, but a deadly flash of light set his skin crawling. He slammed himself onto ground, barely dodging Xanxus's Flames of Wrath. The wall behind him smoked. Mammon screeched about the costs to repair marble, while Belphegor giggled.

Levi and Lussuria hauled up Xanxus from the floor. Xanxus only glared at Superbi. "Don't ever touch me again, you fucking bastard."

Superbi scowled and came to his feet. Eight years had not been long enough for Xanxus to forget.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Memories end, and the past transforms into the present. In Japan, seven children are now heir to the Vongola family. In Italy, the Varia are held prisoner inside their own villa, awaiting the Ninth's judgment. Superbi failed to save Xanxus twice now, and that knowledge aches more than the wounds the katana-brat inflicted on him two weeks ago.

Xanxus stumbles out of the room, his clothes in disarray, scars still dark against his skin. He scowls at Superbi down the hall. Superbi sits in his wheelchair, at the top of the stairs, waiting. He cannot remember how long it has been since Xanxus last touched him. His body aches with longing. He is tired of dwelling in his memories of Xanxus--he wants Xanxus himself back.

"Vooiii!" Superbi announces. "I want to start over."

Xanxus slams a burning fist against the wall. "Start over?" He staggers down the hallway, reeking of gun oil and bourbon, his eyes burning with the intensity of Hell itself. "You're only still here, shark, because you might be useful to me. Because what happened in Japan--" His eyes burned a little brighter. "--only means we continue. Not start over."

Superbi grips the arms of his wheelchair and plants his feet firmly on the ground. "I disagree. I think it means we need to start over."

"I don't give a shit what you think!" Xanxus lurches forward to punch Superbi, but Superbi expects the attack. Using all his strength, Superbi stands and swings his wheelchair around with his artificial hand. He slams it into Xanxus before he can react.

Xanxus cries out in surprise, tumbling down the stairs with the wheelchair in a series of painful thuds and clanging metal. Superbi collapses to the floor, spent from his near-Herculean effort. His injuries have left him a weakling. He peers down the dark stairwell, hoping no one else heard the commotion. Likely, even if they had, none would come find them. As a matter of self-preservation, the Varia were not in the habit of interfering in each other's business.

"You fucking scum, I will end you!" Xanxus bellows. He throws the wheelchair to the side and marches back up the stairs, his hands flaming with his fury. Blood trickles from his nose and split lip.

Superbi smirks. "You always did look best with blood on your mouth."

Xanxus freezes and stares up at Superbi.

"I want to start over," Superbi repeats. "With everything."

After a moment, Xanxus bursts into laughter. He finishes climbing the steps and grabs Superbi by his long hair. "You think it so easy to start over?" he growls, and yanks him upwards.

Superbi snarls with pain and tries to regain his footing, but his legs give out from under him. Xanxus catches him and holds him upright. He glowers at Superbi, clearly waiting for his answer.

"You think this was easy?"

Xanxus considers this, and, after a moment, he seems to accept it. He yanks Superbi's hair back and leans forward to kiss him.

This time, Superbi does not bite him.

_End._


End file.
